...
Approximately five minutes later...
Runmen guided Izroth and Celia up four floors through an indoor teleportation magic formation. On the way, after finding out that it was Izroth’s first time visiting the Apothecary Guild building, he took the time to explain some of the basic knowledge.
For one, there were a total of ten floors in the Apothecary Guild building. The first floor contained the mon area, receptionist desks and it was where promotion tests were held. As for the tenth floor, it was said that it belonged entirely to the head of the Apothecary Guild.
Every floor within the Apothecary Guild building was circular with an open center and isolated from the other floors. Furthermore, each floor had tens of rooms, the majority of which could be rented by Apothecaries.
Excluding the first floor and the tenth floor, the other floors housed private rooms. Depending on one’s Apothecary rank, they could put in a request ahead of time to reserve a room free of cost for a limited time. The higher up one went, the better the room’s conditions and the more benefits would be provided.
Unfortunately, if one used this method, they would have to wait close to a year to use one of the crafting rooms due to how busy the Apothecary District in Danaharpe stayed. That’s why people usually had no choice but to pay a price to rent a room in the Apothecary Guild building.
Of course, the higher the floor, the more expensive the room. And, since the Apothecary Guild did not lack funds, they only accepted things such as materials, treasures, pills or pill recipes as a form of payment. One could also pay using achievement points; however, this was a method typically reserved for those high grade Apothecaries who had achievement points to spare from challenging the Wall of Pills.
With this kind of internal structure, there were many Apothecaries who rented rooms long term and treated it like a home. There were also others who simply used it as a means to have a controlled environment to craft in without any disturbances. After all, the magic formations set in place within the Apothecary Guild building were much better than anything most people were capable of setting up themselves. Not to mention, it was not cheap to hire a Formation Master and pay the operation costs of several high-ranked magic formations.
’A private room on the 4th floor costs one rare herb an hour. There are exactly 78 rooms on the 4th floor. Assuming every room is occupied around the clock, with just this floor alone, the Apothecary Guild is earning 78 rare herbs an hour, 1,872 rare herbs a day and over 10,000 rare herbs a week. They’ve set up quite the system.’
With her salary from the Mystical Realm Palace, paying one rare herb an hour was nothing to Worldly Skies.
"Apothecary Worldly Skies is waiting for you inside. Since I have pleted the request made of me—Apothecary Izroth, Apothecary Celia—as there is nothing else you require, I shall excuse myself. It has been my pleasure to escort you. May the God of Craft guide your hand." Runmen said respectfully as he gave a slight bow.
After exchanging a brief farewell, Rumen took his leave, leaving Izroth and Celia in front of Worldly Skies’ room.
"Your friend must be pretty well off if they’re able to rent a room on the 4th floor. I’ve only rented a place here once, but it really eats through your savings before you know it." Celia sighed.
"Oh? You’re a grade four Apothecary. I also doubt that the Order of a Thousand Blossoms is short on materials for you to produce pills to sell." Izroth mented.
"You’re right, but the order has its own rules. They will provide the materials, but any pills crafted have to submitted to the order. If you’re caught breaking this rule, the punishment is pretty severe. But, in return, we’re basically being given free resources to practice and hone our skills with. We’re also rewarded an allowance based on our contribution; however, it’s nowhere near enough to sustain renting a place like this for too long." Celia explained.
’It reminds me of the way the sects in the Seven Realms operate. Except, the conditions are much better for someone in Celia’s position. That being said, it’s a mon trade off for organizations like the Order of a Thousand Blossoms.’
At the moment, Celia was stuck in a loop. She would use the order’s resources, craft pills to improve her skills, hand the pills she crafted over to the order, and repeat the cycle. While she was rewarded for it, one had to keep in mind that a grade four Apothecary was not particularly impressive to an organization like the Order of a Thousand Blossoms. Therefore, the reward she received would not have been as glamorous as one would hope.
"I see. Later, I have something to discuss with you. It won’t necessarily be a loss on your part." Izroth said as he opened the door before him.
Celia wanted to reply; however, when she saw the door open, she fell silent.
Izroth also did not speak any further as he walked into the room, followed by Celia.
After the two entered the room, the door automatically closed behind them without a sound.
A few seconds later, Celia nudged Izroth with her elbow before she drew the shape of a rectangle with her index fingers before giving a thumbs up.
Izroth inwardly shook his head as he observed Celia’s antics. He understood her intention, but found it amusing how she went about it.
Izroth opened up his system interface and sent a friend request to Celia. He still had his settings adjusted to where others could not send him friend requests. They also were unable to send private messages unless they already had him added as a friend. This was because Izroth was receiving random friend requests and private messages after he took first place in the Protectors of Amaharpe event. But, it got even worse once it was discovered that he had a "connection" to the first Pill Emperor.
〈System Alert: Player Celia has declined your friend request!〉
"..." Izroth looked over at Celia.
Celia arms flailed around in a panic as she shook her head before playing her hands together with a troubled look on her face.
Izroth let out a small inward sigh before he resent the friend request.
〈System Alert: Player Celia has added you as a friend!〉
Immediately upon doing so, Celia sent him a message.
〈System Alert: Player Celia has sent you a message, "I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to decline! I pressed the wrong option! >_
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